There is a real problem with our justice system. We let people who are convicted child molesters, rapists and killers out on 'good behaviour' to make room for other offenders and many times those offenders are convicted of much lesser crimes. There is no reason someone who is convicted on possesion of marjuana should do (well, anytime in my opinion) more time than a rapist but yet I hear about it all the time.
There needs to be a serious revamping of the prison system. IMO I think first and second time drug offenders should be sent into court-mandated rehabs focused on curing the person of their addiction and/or educating them on how to get a job, live successfully in society, rising above the economic and class situations they were born into, focus on education and this should be done totally outside the prison system. The prison system should be only for violent offenders - which of course would involve a serious debate on what constitutes a 'violent' offender. No getting out on good behaviour aka overcrowding. Time sentenced, time served, period. We could do that if the prisons were not so overcrowded with drug addicts who need rehab, not prison, traffic violators, etc. We could also incorporate intense rehabilitation facilities in the prisons for violent offenders including therapy, psychological evaluations, classes on how to function in society, how to get a job on the outside, teaching them how to write a resume, coverletter, interview, have work-release programs where they contribute back to the community in some way while learning valuable skills and most importantly classes on how your offense effected the victims lives physically and emotionally.
Obviously this wouldn't work for some people but it could for others. If the system could reach just some people that would make a difference in re-committing rates and that would make a huge difference in a potential victims life. And obviously, if you are in for life then it is a whole other story. I'm just talking about those who are scheduled for release, even if that is 20 years down the road - they especially need it because 20 years of living out of society is going to make it especially hard to re-adust.
A lot of offenders re-offend because they simply do not know how to function in society. They don't know how to hold down a job, interact with their co-workers, etc so they resort to burglary again and go back where they recieve three meals a day, TV, minimal work, essentially completely taken care of.
When you look at the prison systems of certain European countries, Norway for instance, has a very very different system, where inmates live in communal houses on an island, they are responsible for getting themselves up everyday, making their own meals, going to work. There are farms on the island where different crops are maintained and food sources grown. It is the inmates jobs to harvest these crops, they sent to the mainland to markets to sell. When re-leased, they are sent to a half-way house where they live for a few months while adjusting to life, finding a job, etc. The re-offender rate in Norway is less than 10%. The inmates, many of them convicted of violent crimes, are released and because they were taught whilst in prision to be responsible they are able to maintain a life on the outside. The re-offender rate in the US is upwards of 85%.
I could go on about this but I won't. Sorry for the length. Go ahead, slay me alive. I know a lot of people will think my 'liberal, socialist' views are nuts but don't worry about it; it will never happen